Bosses at America’s HBO Max have bowed to comedian Dave Chappelle’s request to have his old sketch show removed from the streaming service.
“Chappelle’s Show” will be taken off the platform at the end of 2020, weeks after Netflix officials pulled the program from their online offerings out of respect for the funnyman.
During an appearance on Variety’s Virtual FYCFest on Tuesday (December 15th), Casey Bloys, the chief content officer of HBO and HBO Max, explained, “We had a conversation with Dave. I won’t get into it, but it’s very clear that it’s a very unique and specific and emotional issue he’s got.
“So, at the end of the year, December 31st, we’re going to honor his request and take the show down.”
“Chappelle’s Show” originally aired on U.S. cable network Comedy Central from 2003 to 2006, and reruns have proved popular ever since.
However, in late November, Chappelle revealed he had personally reached out to chiefs at Netflix – where he recently premiered a trio of stand-up specials – to drop Chappelle’s Show from their library.
The comedian said he is still annoyed by the deal he signed as a naive young man, granting Comedy Central producers and bosses at its parent company, Viacom, the rights and royalties to his show.